Africa must not imitate West, says Museveni
Presidents Joyce Banda-Malawi (R) Yoweri Museveni (M) and Micheal Sata of Zambia walking to the conference Hall for the opening of the 17th COMESA summit of heads of State and Governement of COMESA AT CITEDE 1 UA villas in Kinshasha on February 26, 2014
By Vision Reporter
President Museveni has warned African countries against imitating the West countries and inflating salaries instead of investing in infrastructure.
“Africa must be cautious of trying to imitate the Western Countries who, in their heydays of being the aristocracy of the world, put wages very high and, in the end, when they faced competition from China, India and others, could not compete,” said the President while addressing the 17th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Heads of State summit in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
COMESA is a grouping of 19 African states which have agreed to promote regional integration through trade development and to develop their natural and human resources for the mutual benefit of all their peoples and its members include Uganda, Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar, Zambia, Egypt, Libya and Zimbabwe.
President Museveni has warned African countries against imitating the West countries and inflating salaries instead of investing in infrastructure.
“Africa must be cautious of trying to imitate the Western Countries who, in their heydays of being the aristocracy of the world, put wages very high and, in the end, when they faced competition from China, India and others, could not compete,” said the President while addressing the 17th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Heads of State summit in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
COMESA is a grouping of 19 African states which have agreed to promote regional integration through trade development and to develop their natural and human resources for the mutual benefit of all their peoples and its members include Uganda, Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar, Zambia, Egypt, Libya and Zimbabwe.
The 17th summit is on the theme, “Consolidating Intra-Comesa Trade and Through Micro-Small and Medium Enterprise Development”.
The last summit was hosted by Uganda from November 23 to 24, 2012 under the theme ‘Enhancing Intra-COMESA Trade through Micro, Small and medium, Enterprises.”
The last summit was hosted by Uganda from November 23 to 24, 2012 under the theme ‘Enhancing Intra-COMESA Trade through Micro, Small and medium, Enterprises.”
Museveni who since then has been the COMESA chairperson has handed over to the host President Joseph Kabila.
Leaders at the summit included Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe) and Omar Bashir (Sudan).
In his address, Museveni underscored the importance of investing in infrastructure. He said Africa’s enormous potential cannot be unlocked without good infrastructures, especially roads, the railway, electricity, ICT infrastructure, ports and piped water for, at least, the towns.
In his address, Museveni underscored the importance of investing in infrastructure. He said Africa’s enormous potential cannot be unlocked without good infrastructures, especially roads, the railway, electricity, ICT infrastructure, ports and piped water for, at least, the towns.
